Dealing with deviants on your network

It's a security manager's nightmare. Network logs of Internet activity at MassMutual Financial Group indicated a top executive was spending much of his time in chat rooms, where he claimed to have molested his 12-year-old daughter.

That discovery by the IT department and its security team triggered a rapid investigation with help from local law enforcement that culminated in the executive's dismissal. It also led to the unraveling of the executive's family after investigators interviewed his daughter. The investigators came away convinced he hadn't molested her but was hooked on a sick fantasy that was consuming his life.

"He was a high-level employee making a six-figure salary who had spent [hours] each day chatting online about incest," said Bruce Bonsall, MassMutual's chief information security officer, speaking at a recent conference. The incident happened more than a year ago and appeared to have gone on for at least a month, he said.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

It's a security manager's nightmare. Network logs of Internet activity at MassMutual Financial Group indicated a top executive was spending much of his time in chat rooms, where he claimed to have molested his 12-year-old daughter.

That discovery by the IT department and its security team triggered a rapid investigation with help from local law enforcement that culminated in the executive's dismissal. It also led to the unraveling of the executive's family after investigators interviewed his daughter. The investigators came away convinced he hadn't molested her but was hooked on a sick fantasy that was consuming his life.

"He was a high-level employee making a six-figure salary who had spent [hours] each day chatting online about incest," said Bruce Bonsall, MassMutual's chief information security officer, speaking at a recent conference. The incident happened more than a year ago and appeared to have gone on for at least a month, he said.

While it's hard to gauge how often corporations are forced to grapple with such issues, it's clear that perverted online behavior is a growing insider threat, especially as digital pornography gets easier to come by and popular peer-to-peer networks become rife with unsavory material. The downloading of adult pornography can trigger "hostile workplace" lawsuits. And in cases where it appears child pornography might be involved, the failure to take action can leave an organization criminally liable. Companies are resorting to assorted security products and policies to protect themselves.

"I had one client who had the FBI show up [about three months ago] at their facility because someone was downloading child pornography," says Joseph Schmitt, labor-employment attorney with Minneapolis law firm Halleland Lewis. "I said, 'Did they have a search warrant?' And they did."

Schmitt says the FBI, which had tracked the employee over the Internet, questioned the man to gather more evidence. The company fired him.

Legal matters critical

Parry Aftab, an attorney who directs the Internet online-safety group Wired Safety, says she learns about a dozen child-pornography cases in the business world each month. She has been hired to advise IT and human resources departments on how to deal with employees suspected of inappropriate Internet use or criminal activity.